Background
Federal
law (50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.) requires virtually all male
U.S. citizens, as well as immigrant men residing in the U.S.,
to register with the Selective Service System (SSS) when reaching
age 18. In an effort to ensure compliance among young men,
many states have enacted legislation which links SSS registration
with the process of applying for a driver's license or state
identification card. As a result of such legislation, in May
2002, the state of Delaware, which enacted driver's license
legislation in 2000, became the first state to reach nearly
100 percent registration compliance since the Agency began
compiling this data. In that same year, seven other states
increased their compliance rates by 3 percent or more after
enacting similar driver's license legislation.
Maintaining a high compliance rate is of concern to officials
because it means that any future draft instituted by Congress
and the President in a national emergency would be fair and
equitable. Also, men who fail to register with Selective
Service are not eligible for certain programs and benefits
that the Congress and 41 state and territorial legislatures
and the District of Columbia have linked to registration. They
include student loans and grants for college, most government
jobs, and job training. Additionally, immigrant men residing
in the U.S. who fail to register when they are at least 18
years old, but not yet 26 years old, may be denied U.S. citizenship
by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Description
of Typical State Driver’s License Legislation
These
laws are simple and inexpensive to implement. They instruct
the state’s Department of Public Safety or Motor Vehicles
to include a consent statement on all applications or renewals
for driver’s permits, licenses, and identification cards.
The statement tells the applicant that by submitting the application
he is consenting to his registration with the SSS, if so required
by Federal law. Females are not required to register with
SSS under current law. Men 26 years of age or beyond are too
old to register.
Transmission
of applicant data to the SSS is accomplished electronically
through an existing arrangement each state has with the data
sharing system of the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators (AAMVAnet) at no extra cost to the state.
Status
of State Driver’s License Legislation
As of June
22,
2012,
40
states, 4
territories, and the District of Columbia have enacted
driver’s license laws supporting SSS registration. They are:
(1) Enacted and
Implemented – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas,
Colorado,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington,
West Virginia,
Wisconsin, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia; (2)
Enacted But Not Yet
Implemented – Maine, Maryland,
Connecticut, and Puerto Rico.
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